Assassin of Loneliness
by Pokahydee - Nekoyasha
Summary: SMNaruto Tsukino Usagi is a weapon that must be kept locked away… When she is finally let out of her prison, her mission is to assassinate the Kazekage, leader of the Sand Village.


**Assassin of Loneliness**

_**Theme(s)**: 43. gloaming, night-sky, night-owl  
**Summary**: Tsukino Usagi is a weapon that must be kept locked away… When she is finally let out of her prison, her mission is to assassinate the Kazekage, leader of the Sand Village.  
**Pairing/Characters:** Usagi (Sailor Moon)/Gaara (Naruto)  
**Rating**: PG-13 (for slightly dark themes)  
**Disclaimer**: As you all know, I don't own Sailor Moon or Naruto or any of the characters.  
**A.N.**: This is a one-shot that was written for Tenshi no Nozomi's livejournal community 30houshin. I do not plan to turn this into a chaptered series, I do hope you enjoy it, though. Feedback is welcome and appreciated._

_lloolloollooll change of scene, time, etc._

"So you're the little brat Usagi, correct?" A deep male voice questioned to the petit blond that sat huddled in a ball in front of him. He wore a band across his forehead with a metal plate and a symbol something like an hourglass with a deep horizontal line etched into the metal. The blond didn't answer but looked up and winced into the bright light that spilled from the open door behind him.

"Is this girl really as powerful as they say?" Another man who was shorter than the first questioned as he raised an eyebrow at the small girl who sat hugging her legs. "She's just a little girl."

"Don't let her face or age fool you. She has a Jinchuuriki inside of her. She's a monster. Why do you think she's been caged up down here for so long?" The first man asked as a smirk slowly spread across his face.

"Ah, so she's that girl." He commented dryly as he scratched his chin. "Are we really going to use her right now?"

"The Tsukino clan will be resurrected. To do that, we need someone that will strike fear." The first taller man explained slowly. "We were driven from our village before she was born, she was a weapon created just for this mission. We finally have the strength to overthrow the Hidden Village of the Sand."

"Heh, I suppose so. The Kazekage is weakened right now; this is the perfect time to attack." The shorter man said with a smirk.

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The ropes tied around Usagi were painfully tight as she was secured into the saddle of a thoroughbred horse. She didn't speak as she was chained into the saddle. They were taking no chances; Usagi was their trump card so they were leaving no opening for escape. It's not as if Usagi had any training as a ninja so even if she did try to escape, she wouldn't get very far. It had been like this for a long time. She'd been confined to the small cell after the rest of the Tsukino clan killed her mother. Ikuko Tsukino had been against sealing the Jinchuuriki inside of her daughter, but had lost out in the end. They had kidnapped Usagi as a newborn and sealed the two-tailed demon inside of her. It was the first time Usagi had ever been outside of her cell since she was born. The Tsukino clan was too afraid even to go down and feed her. They had rigged up a pulley system to lower her meals down to her through a hole they had cut into the ceiling of her cell.

"We'll attack at nightfall!" The apparent leader of the clan yelled over the low din of the rest of the Tsukinos. Cheers arose from the men and women all around and the long troupe of horses took off at a gallop.

The leader of the clan led Usagi's horse and would occasionally use a whip on Usagi if her eyes wandered too much around her surroundings. She winced slightly as the whip cut into the flesh of her shoulder. She would have raised her hand to cover the small trickle of blood that ran down her arm, but she was chained securely into the saddle. She could hardly breathe because the chains were so tight.

Usagi let her eyes alone wander as she looked around her surroundings. She would only be whipped once more if she tried to turn her head. She was used to the beatings, but that didn't mean that she enjoyed them. She had long since stopped crying out from the pain. It always made the beatings worse so she had learned to hold the pain in. She saw a few scattered trees and large rocks and cliffs on all sides. The breeze that whipped through the cracks and crevices felt good on her face. The cell she had grown up in was dark and dank. It was always moist and held and unpleasant smell of decay. The walls were covered in carvings and drawings that Usagi had done in her younger days. There were drawings of faces she had never seen, and animals she had never held. She did not know what the creatures were that she saw in her dreams, but they looked really soft. They had soft, triangle ears and moist, pink noses. They had long hairs on the sides of their faces that would tickle Usagi's skin in her dreams. Usagi was brought out of the memories of her dreams by a sharp noise and a pain in her lower back. She slumped forward in her saddle and bit back the tears that came to her eyes. The worst thing that she could do was to let them see her tears.

"You monster! Pay attention when the master speaks to you!" A sharp voice shouted. She felt a hand grab the hair on the back of her head and pull her face up roughly to meet the cold gaze of the head of the Tsukino family.

"You will be sent in first!" The clan leader said to the young blond. "You will go to the very center of the village and kill a man named Gaara. He has red hair and green eyes." He explained as he mimicked hand movements, pointing to his hair and then his red haori as if Usagi didn't know what the color red was. "When you have killed him, you will set off a signal flare to let us know it's time for us to come in and take over the village." He finished as he held up a flare for Usagi to see. He mimicked pulling the string to set off the flare. "Do - you - understand - me?" He questioned as he leaned in closer and spoke slowly and deliberately. Usagi nodded once to let him know she understood and the hand tangled in her hair released her. She slumped back forward in the saddle and drew a few ragged breaths.

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The Kazekage was perched in his usual place atop the central building of the Hidden Village of Sand. Even after the Shukaku had been ripped out of his body, he still was unable to sleep like a normal person. Years of insomnia had made it next to impossible for him to sleep even if he had wanted to. There was a full moon out that night and it lit up the whole town reasonably well. The sand surrounding the village seemed to reflect the light and make it seem much brighter outside. There wasn't a soul moving in the town below as he surveyed his surroundings lazily. Nothing much ever happened at this hour of the night. The only thing that he might witness is a team of ninjas returning from a mission and going to their homes to sleep for a few hours until they were assigned their next mission. There were many times when he would approach them and get a briefing on the outcome of their mission so they could sleep a few additional hours before they would depart on the next one. Tonight was not one of those nights, unfortunately. So Gaara was left to observe a bright and silent world from the highest point of the village.

His life had taken a dramatic turn after the Akatsuki had kidnapped him. Without the Shukaku, he only had a minimal amount of control over the sand. He no longer had the automatic shield that had protected him since birth. Nor did he have any of his most powerful attacks. He could still use the sand shield that he would coat himself with to absorb powerful blows, but that particular defense required a lot of chakra so he tried to avoid using that if he could.

It seemed that other countries hadn't yet heard of the weakening of the Kazekage, though. If that had gotten out, other villages would be attacking in order to boost their status. No matter how hard they tried to hide that fact, Gaara knew it would leak out somehow. There were simply too many people who knew what had happened. The majority of the Sand ninjas had been at the last part of the battle and several squads of Konoha ninjas had been there as well, including Naruto Izumaki, Naruto, who had taught him that your power will truly manifest when you are protecting someone that you care for. Gaara understood that now. He had been kidnapped while protecting the whole village. He didn't regret it. He was the Kazekage; it was his duty and honor to protect the people of his village. He was truly indebted to Naruto, who had saved him not once, but twice so he could continue on and protect his people.

Gaara was pulled from his revere as he saw a shadow move across the street in the village below. It was too early for anyone to be awake yet, and the shadow was much too large to be a stray cat or dog. He focused his eyes in the direction he had seen the shadow come from and scanned the streets surrounding with trained eyes. He saw the shadow again closer and to the left of the first spot. Then again toward the center and closer still. The shadow flitted across the lit areas quickly as if the person it belonged to was trying to be sneaky. Again the shadow flitted across his vision as he jumped down to the lower level of the building. He looked over the railing and saw a small figure climbing up the side of the building. The person was bathed in shadow, but it was apparent that they weren't from the village or they would have just taken the stairs off to the side. Gaara took a few steps back into the shadows to watch the person as they climbed the railing. Whoever it was, he wasn't a very good ninja at all. It was more likely to be a child from the size. Perhaps it was a child from the Academy that was dared by a fellow classmate to pull some sort of prank on the Kazekage. Or maybe it was an initiation thing to get to the top without the Kazekage noticing. It was a well-known fact that Gaara would spend most nights atop the building.

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They had finally taken her chains off and pointed her toward the building. She wasn't sure she could do what was asked of her, but perhaps if she did well, they would allow her some more time out of her cell. She had no chance of escaping the Tsukino clan. They were much too strong. They had a peculiar Blood-Line Limit as well so most normal ninjas didn't stand a chance against them. They had been driven from the village when they attacked after their leader was not chosen to be the new Kazekage after the death of the 3rd Kazekage. They had chosen the father of the monster called Gaara of the Desert, the current Kazekage. Usagi only knew this from overhearing the snatches of conversation of the clan on the ride into the Sand Village. Of course, the whole of the clan was too cowardly to attack the village head on, that was where Usagi came in. How they expected her to kill the Kazekage when she had had no formal training, she wasn't sure. She was going to try her hardest, though. If she died, she didn't much care, it had to be better to be dead than to live the way she had been living her whole life.

Usagi ran quickly and silently through the deserted streets of the village. The moonlight beat down on her and brought a small smile to her lips. She had never seen the moon before, but she preferred it to the sun. The sun was extremely bright and hurt her sensitive eyes. Not only that, but the sun also turned her skin pink and made it sting to the touch. The moon bathed her in gentle silver light and didn't cause her any discomfort. It wasn't just the fact that it didn't cause her pain that she liked the moon, either. It made her feel warm inside in a way she had never felt before. It was calming and comforting, like a long-lost friend that had always been watching over her.

She tried to stay in the shadowy areas of the village as she went from one alleyway to the next. The moonlight was extraordinarily bright that particular night and was completely round, so it was easily casting her shadow across the sandy ground. She paused in the shadows on an alleyway behind some local stores to look up at the building that she was told to go to. It was very tall and she didn't see a way to get to the top on the outside unless she scaled the wall. She took a deep breath and sprinted across the last stretch of street before she came to the building and grabbed onto a small ledge just above her head.

The sides of the building were smooth from years of the sand whipping across it, buffing out all imperfections. It made the climb very difficult, especially for a girl who was inexperienced with climbing to start with. Just don't look down… Usagi told herself as she reached up and found another small ledge that was slightly above her head. She brushed the sand off the ledge and grabbed it with her groping hands to pull herself up several feet. The next handhold was more difficult to find, but eventually she found one off to her left a few feet up.

By the time Usagi was three quarters of the way up the wall, she realized that there were no longer any handholds for her to grab and pull herself up with. She was stuck in the middle of the building unable to move up any further and too afraid to try and move back down the front of the building. That was when the wind decided to start to pick up once more. It had been a calm night before, but apparently the wind decided it was time to make her task even harder to accomplish.

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Gaara remained in the shadows for a time waiting for the intruder to climb over the top of the railing. As he waited, he looked up at the round moon. His blood used to boil during the full moon. That was when the Shukaku had been the most excited. It had also been the time when he was the most scared because it was so easy to lose control. Now that he looked at the moon without having to worry about losing control, it calmed his nerves. He had never realized how beautiful the moon really was before. It had always seemed cold and solitary.

It had already been nearly ten minutes and the person scaling the building still had not reached the top. A small smirk crossed his lips as he walked toward the railing. It really was an Academy kid that had been dared to do something in the dead of night. It was somewhat disheartening that the student hadn't made it to the top, though. He would have to contact the Academy and make sure all of the students were up to par.

Gaara approached the railing and looked down the front of the building. About three-fourths of the way up the side of the building was a body looking down at the ground. All he could see of the person was a small build and yards of golden hair that shimmered in the moonlight as the wind whipped it around. The person seemed to be looking for a way to get back down the building, but fear held him or her in place. The person had a very small build, but didn't seem to be a child. He could just barely tell that whoever it was happened to be female from the petite hand that clutched the edge of the building for dear life.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked down to the girl attached to the side of the building. Clear blue eyes swiveled in the direction of his voice and a she let out a quiet squeak as she saw him standing above her. There were tears glistening in her eyes as a gust of wind blew across the front of the building, making her hair and clothes whip around much worse and her fingers slip in the slick sand on her hand and feet holds. The wind didn't abate and her hands and feet were slipping fast. "I asked who you are." Gaara repeated to the terrified blond clinging to the side of the building.

"… Usa… gi…" The girl said as more tears spilled down her cheeks. Gaara still had a certain amount of control over the sand, but he wanted to get a little information from the girl before he helped her up onto the balcony. If she was an enemy, she was definitely putting on a good act. She truly looked scared to death.

"What are you doing here, Usagi?" Gaara questioned as he sent some of his sand down to extend her feet holds a little bit so she could get her balance back.

"I… I…" Usagi started, but the wind picked up to a much greater pitch and her hands slipped from the crevices in the side of the building. Her eyes widened in terror and her mouth opened to let out a scream. Gaara watched for a split second for the girl to save herself, but she didn't perform any ninjutsu to save her life. Not even a basic technique. Gaara launched himself from the top of the building and used his sand to grab her wrist and pull her back up into the air toward him. His fingers closed on hers and he pulled her into his arms as the sand gathered beneath their feet. With a great strain, Gaara managed to pull enough sand under their feet to keep them both from crashing into the ground.

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Usagi was terrified. The wind was picking up and she still hadn't located a way to go either up or down the building. It was a really bad idea to send her into the village alone without any training. There was no way she would be able to complete her job. She heard a monotone voice above her and looked in the direction. She took in his red hair, cold green eyes, and the kanji for love on his forehead and let out a terrified squeak.

"I asked who you are." She heard him repeat as the tears that had formed in her eyes began to spill over. Her cover was blown; he would kill her for sure. They had warned her to catch him by surprise. They said he was a cold-blooded killer and he wouldn't think twice about killing women or children. Her feet were slipping on the remaining sand that the wind had blown over on the ledge.

"… Usa… gi…" She said as more tears leaked down her cheeks. She had thought that if she died it would be okay, but she realized while faced with it that she really wasn't ready to die at all. Her resolve had completely broken.

"What are you doing here, Usagi?" The same cold voice asked as dark-ringed eyes starred down at her coldly. His arms were crossed over his chest and he carried a large gourd on his back that looked extremely heavy. Usagi briefly wondered what he kept inside the gourd. The Tsukinos hadn't told her anything about it at all. Usagi's feet slipped more on the sand that had blown over her foothold and the wind continued to whip her hair and kimono all around her, making it feel as if it would take her right off. Her heel fell back slightly and she noticed that her foothold seemed to be slightly bigger than it had been before so she managed to hold onto her balance.

"I… I…" Usagi started as panic seized her heart. She couldn't tell him they'd sent her to kill him, he would kill her instantly. He hadn't killed her yet, but his eyes told her that he would without thinking twice. Words of apology and mercy stuck in her throat as she starred up into the aqua depths of his eyes. They could see into her soul, she knew it. His penetrating stare was ripping through her insides. Before Usagi could utter another word, the largest gust of wind yet rushed passed her, pulling her hands from her grip in the wall. She was falling backward… backward toward her certain death. She was very high up and the ground was rock solid from hundreds of feet and carts passing through it for decades. The loose sand that seemed to cover the place came in from the desert and went back out there as well by the will of the wind. The ground below the village had long since become sandstone. While sandstone was soft for a stone, it was still too hard for her to fall such a distance and survive, especially because the angle she was falling at… head first… Panic grabbed her at first and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting the inevitable and halfway welcoming it even though she was still terrified.

It took several moments for Usagi to figure out what happened after that. All she saw was the moon, dark-rimmed eyes, and sand was closing in everywhere. When she opened her eyes next, she was laying against a strong chest with arms closed around her. It took several more moments for Usagi to brave picking her head up and looking at her savior. He was stirring, trying to sit up when she looked up into his face. He didn't look like the horrible, sick killer the Tsukinos had described to her. There was a strange look on his face that might have resembled concern had she known what human emotions looked like on faces. She had not had much interaction with people having been kept captive her whole life.

Usagi felt her face growing warm and she jumped back as he sat up and continued to look at her curiously. She was waiting for him to attack, to say something, to do anything, but he just sat there starring at her.

"You're not from around here." He said calmly as he looked at the blond girl from his position on the ground. "The mark on your forehead suggests that you're from the Tsukino clan, though." He said calmly when he noticed the golden crescent moon that graced her forehead reflect the moonlight. It seemed fitting that mark. The girl seemed to glow in the light the moon cast down upon them. It almost seemed to radiate from her. He watched as Usagi nodded her head slowly confirming his suspicions.

"They…" Usagi started as more tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Kazekage-sama!!" A loud voice shouted through the wind-swept street shattering the near silence of the night. "Kazekage-sama!! The Tsukino clan!! They're marching on the West Gate!!" The voice of one of Gaara's guards cried out as he approached from the side street behind Usagi.

"Nani?" Gaara questioned quietly as he climbed slowly to his feet. He reached out a hand to the blond girl that sat kneeling on the ground. She looked from his hand, then to his face before cautiously letting him help her to her feet. "You, Usagi." He said directing his gaze at the blond girl with that penetrating stare once more. Usagi winced and looked away. "Were you sent as an assassin?" He demanded calmly as his eyes narrowed. Usagi didn't meet his cold stare, but nodded her head in assent.

"They told me to kill you…" Usagi said quietly as the tears started afresh. "But I didn't want to… I'm afraid of them…"

"Send out the evacuation order. Get the Jounins to engage them and keep them distracted long enough to get the villages to safety." Gaara ordered the ninja before him, his grip still firmly on Usagi's wrist. "Come." He said calmly as he began to walk toward the building they had just fallen from, pulling the frightened blond after him. She didn't even attempt to fight back, she seemed to be frozen with fear. The only thing that moved was her feet and then only to keep herself from falling flat on her face.

They moved around the side of the building to the far side where there was a set of stairs that twisted up around the building as it made it's way upward. Gaara walked quickly, but not so quickly that Usagi had any trouble keeping up. They passed several ninjas on the way up who received brisk orders from the Kazekage before hurrying on their way. They were preparing for a big battle. The Sand Village knew that the Tsukinos were a tough enemy with their special bloodline limit. They had been banished because their pride was too great and they posed too big of a threat to the other villagers. They would go around and bully those they deemed to be weaker and inferior because they were part of a prestigious clan.

When they reached the top of the stairs, they passed through a doorway into long hallways with doors lining both sides. There were people rushing about everywhere through the hallways, going in one door while others came out of the same door. Still Gaara said nothing to the petit blond behind him. She seemed incapable of speech at the moment. She was in enemy territory with no idea of what they were going to do to her. It was obvious that she was part of the group that had attacked, which was evident by the golden crescent moon that was stitched onto the back of her outfit. Older ninjas gave her dark looks as they passed in the hallway, but they didn't say anything since the Kazekage accompanied her.

After going around many bends, they came to a door on the left that opened up into a big open room with a skylight window in the ceiling. The lights were turned off so the moonlight filtering through cast a shadowy haze around the room, which was blocked every so often as sand drifted across the window on the gusts of wind that were quickly turning into a gale. Gaara didn't bother to turn on the light as he crossed the room to a large desk with Usagi in tow. The door closed quietly behind him as he led the blond to the smaller and less comfortable chair in front of the desk. He motioned for her to sit and walked around to the other side of the desk to be seated.

"What exactly is going on, Gaara?" A male voice asked from a smaller door to the left of the desk. A man older than Gaara had entered through the side door wearing purple makeup on his face and something on his back wrapped in bandages that had a ruff of brown hair on the top. Behind him walked a blond girl with something that looked like a closed fan strapped to her back. She rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly.

"This had better be an emergency, otouto." She mumbled grumpily as she stifled another yawn. "I just got back from a mission a few hours ago and was hoping to get a little sleep."

"Gomen, oneesan." Gaara said quietly as he looked apologetically toward his sister. He was still getting used to using a more affectionate way of speaking with his siblings. He had grown up all alone; even his siblings had been scared of his as a child. Not only that, but his father, the previous Kazekage, had all but prohibited them from spending any time with their brother in the first place. He felt that if Gaara got into a fight with his siblings, as children often do over silly things, that it might lead to someone getting seriously hurt or killed. He had known since Gaara was very young that he couldn't truly control the Shukaku that had resided inside of him for so long.

"I was just about to find out exactly what is happening." Gaara said as he turned his attention back to the nervous-looking blond. She had her hands clasped in her lap and her eyes were downcast. She looked like a child who had been caught trying to skip school.

"Who's that?" Temari asked as she turned her attention to the scared blond girl. The girl looked like she was terrified and seemed to have been crying.

"She's from the Tsukino clan." Gaara said slowly, his eyes never leaving Usagi.

"Eh?!?" Kankurou nearly yelled as his hands went for Karasu who was strapped to his back.

"Wait." Gaara said calmly, cutting Kankurou off short. "If she was going to attack anyone here, she would have done so by now."

"But-" Temari started and was silenced by one look from Gaara. She took had reached immediately for the fan strapped to her back. The Tsukino clan had been banished before she had been born, but everyone in the village knew of the horrible, intolerant things the power-hungry Tsukinos had done before their banishment.

"So, Usagi." Gaara began as he turned his gaze back to the petrified blond. She cringed slightly and continued to concentrate on her hands. "If you don't want to be killed, tell me everything you know about this attack." Usagi paused for a moment and squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

"I don't know anything…" Usagi said slowly still looking down at her clenched hands in her lap.

"We have ways to make you speak." Kankurou said coldly as he came up behind the blond girl. He raised a needle to her throat that dripped a clear liquid. Usagi's eyes followed the needle as he pressed it to her neck and a few tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes.

"I… I really don't know…" Usagi said shakily as she felt some of the clear liquid drip onto her exposed throat. "They just told me to sneak in and kill the Kazeka-"

"To kill the Kazekage?!?" Temari interrupted as she, too, pulled out a kunai and advanced on the trembling girl.

"Stop it." Gaara said calmly as he stood and walked around the desk back toward Usagi. He pushed Kankurou's hand away from her throat to signal to him to put the poison-tipped weapon away. A rush of relief swept over Usagi at the actions of the Kazekage. She nearly smiled as she looked up at the red-haired man with tears still streaming down her face. "Why did you agree to it? You're obviously not a true assassin."

"I… I…." Usagi started as she stared into the cold depths of his eyes.

"She's pretending because she got caught!" Temari cried out. Unlike Kankurou, she hadn't put her kunai away.

"I had no choice!" Usagi cried out in protest over the sound of Temari's voice. "They made me do it! They finally let me out… I didn't want to go back…" Usagi said the last part in a near whisper. Gaara's expression didn't change at all as he listened to her speak. The tone of her voice, the tears, and the facial expressions were genuine. There wasn't a person in the world that was that good of an actor.

"All right." Gaara said slowly as he took a step backward. He turned to his older brother and looked up at him. "She was just a decoy, a distraction."

"A decoy? Are you sure, Gaara?" Temari asked as she took a step closer to her youngest brother.

"Very sure." He stated calmly as he glanced casually at the blond girl. "She doesn't even know the most basic of ninjutsu or she would have used something to save herself when she fell. Not only that, but she's effectively kept my attention for a time. What they didn't know was that the Sand ninjas have much better training these days so an ambush is easily detected, especially on such a clear night. They're also attacking during a full moon so that puts them at a further disadvantage."

"I see…" Kankurou said slowly as he listened to his little brother's reasoning. It certainly made sense and the girl seemed very sincere and naïve. There was no way such an emotional brat was an assassin.

Usagi's tears stopped when she heard the Kazekage state that he didn't believe that she was any threat and a great wave of relief swept across her. She lifted her eyes from her hands and turned to face the red-haired Kazekage. He didn't look too much older than she was herself now that his cold eyes had softened a bit. He didn't seem quite so menacing when he looked at her now.

"Calm down, we're not going to hurt you." Gaara said calmly to the blond girl. Her large sapphire eyes were still full of tears, but she her sniffles were lessening as she looked over at him. She seemed much younger than she looked. "What do you mean they finally let you out?" Gaara questioned. He had an idea of what it meant, but he wanted to be sure before he took any action personally.

"They…" Usagi started and paused. She couldn't continue to look into his eyes and looked down at her hands that were crossed in her lap instead. "They kept me locked up… under ground… my whole life…" Usagi said slowly, pausing between soft sniffles. It seemed weird to her that he was asking. He was supposed to be evil. That was what she had been told by the only people she had ever known. They had told her in detail all of the dreadful things he had done. "You're really not going to kill me?" Usagi asked as she turned pleading ocean blues to look into pale aqua eyes.

"No." He stated plainly. "They will pay, though. I won't allow them to hurt my village."

"Eh?" Usagi looked confused up at Gaara.

"Oneesan, will you check on the status of the evacuation?" Gaara questioned of the older blond that stood behind him.

"Hai, Gaara." Temari said and headed from the room out of the main door.

"I'm going to go assist the front lines, Gaara." Kankurou said as he headed after his little sister.

"That's fine. Be careful, niisan." Gaara said to the retreating form of his brother. Kankurou just lifted one hand in a lazy wave as he headed out the door.

"Aa." Kankurou said lazily as the door swung shut behind him, plunging Usagi and Gaara back into a semi-dark stated. Gaara said nothing for a long time after his siblings had left. He would remain in his study until he was informed of the complete evacuation of the villagers, then the counter attack would start. He had modeled the plans after the village of Konoha. At one time, the Sand had attacked Konoha with the village of Sound and the results had been devastating for the Sand. The Sand had been tricked by a man named Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin from Konoha, and had attacked Konoha. The casualties for the Sand had been much greater than Konoha because of the evacuation orders sent throughout their village. All of the villagers had escaped into the cliffs or nearby forested areas that were highly protected. So one of the first things Gaara had done upon becoming Kazekage was create a similar plan in case of enemy invasion. This was the first time it was truly to be tested, though. The attack had come too quickly in the weeks prior when he they had been attacked by the Akatsuki.

"Why have they kept you locked up for so long, Usagi?" Gaara questioned as he walked back behind the desk and took a seat. He propped his elbow up on the table and leaned his face against his hands. It was not a position many would see from the Kazekage who seemed to never relax in any sense. The fear of being assassinated at any time, the fear of being overtaken by the Shukaku… Gaara no longer had to worry about such things. There was still the possibility of assassination, but even in his weakened state, he was stronger than many people seemed to think.

"I… I'm not sure…" Usagi said quietly as she finally reached a hand up to dry the tears on her face. Before she could do more than dab at her cheek, a soft hand holding a cloth was dabbing gently at her cheek. She looked up, slightly startled, to see the Kazekage reaching across his desk and dabbing at her eyes gently. A slight blush spread across her cheeks at the light touch. She was used to people recoiling if she so much as glanced at her when the sent food down the hole in the floor. "They killed my mother when I was born… I heard them say that they had wanted to do something… and she didn't want to have anything to do with it… So they killed her…" A dark looked crossed Gaara's face as she told him the little she knew.

"Is that so…" He said quietly. His tone and dark look seemed to make the temperature in the room drop about ten degrees. "So they've left you all alone…" He finished slowly. Usagi only nodded and took the soft cloth from him and continued to dab at her eyes lightly.

"The pain of being alone…" Gaara seemed to be talking to himself as he stood up and walked around aimlessly in the room, his eyes looking up, but not seeming to see anything.

"Kazekage-sama!" A voice called as the door was flung open. "The evacuation is complete! What are your orders?" Gaara paused for only a moment, then turned his eyes to the Sand ninja in the doorway.

"Start the counter attack. Drive the Tsukino clan from our village." Gaara said calmly as he headed for the door. "Tetsuyo." He said addressing the man who stood with the first speaker.

"Hai, Kazekage-sama!" Tetsuyo said obediently as he stepped forward.

"Take this girl to the closest evacuation sight." Gaara instructed in an authoritative voice.

"Hai!" He said as he stepped into the room toward the blond girl. "Come along miss." The ninja said politely as he held out a hand for Usagi. He didn't know her, but if she had a private audience with the Kazekage, she must be special in some way. She seemed a bit the worse for the wear. Her eyes were puffy and her hair was extremely wind-blown. Not to mention that her clothes had specks of dirt on them and several rips.

"Wait!" Usagi cried out as the strange ninja tried to usher her out the door. Gaara turned back to look at the girl halfway from the door. "You're not going to kill me?" She questioned.

"No. Go with Tetsuyo, he'll make sure you're safe." Gaara instructed.

"But… why?" Usagi questioned as she looked pleadingly at the taller man. "You were supposed to kill me! They said you were cold-hearted and killed anyone you came across!" Gaara didn't respond for a few moments. Then he looked away and closed his eyes.

"Once upon a time…" He said in a near whisper. "What is your reason to exist?" He questioned as he turned his eyes back onto Usagi.

"Reason to exist?" She questioned as she looked back at him. "I… I…" Usagi could think of nothing to say. A small smile spread across his lips as he saw the same hopeless look on her face that he had once seen when he looked into a mirror.

"Survive this and I will help you find your reason, Usagi." Gaara responded with another small smile. With that said, he turned toward the door and walked through, leaving Usagi alone with the ninja called Tetsuyo.

With the departure of the supposed 'monster', a small smile graced Usagi's lips. Something in her the region of her chest told her that he would be true to his word. She would no longer need to be needed by the Tsukino clan. She might finally have found a way to break free from them.

**::Fin::**

Okay, that was a little bit of an abrupt end, but since Usagi isn't trained, I wasn't going to make her do any actual fighting. I like how this pieced turned out even though I didn't do anything with the two-tail inside of her. It was enough to build fear in the minds of the Tsukino clan so therefore that was enough to make them lock her away. I kind of played on the 'Kimimaru' thing with her being locked away, but they were terrified of the demon they put inside her shrugs Also, I mentioned that they had a bloodline limit, but didn't say what it was. It wasn't really necessary to say what it was. I just wanted you to know that they had one and got a superiority complex from it. If it seems a bit choppy or I mention something more than once, I'm sorry about that, it's been a VERY long time since I did any real writing so I'm a bit rusty sweatdrop Also, this is a one-shot so I don't plan to add anything to it.


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